New Blog on Wordpress!

I have decided to try out Word Press and have a second blog there.
Blogger has good features however, Word Press has advantages that blogger does not.
For one, you may have more than one page and most important, the blog can be incorporated into a website. This is my next step. Gloria Hansen developed my website and is currently restructuring it to update and expand it.

So, please visit my new blog at:
http://www.debabin.wordpress.com

As always, comments are welcome!

Debbie Babin

On line Classes begin Oct 6-sign up now!

Hello-
I will be offering my two online classes in October.

Sign up now to participate

Classes
1-Textile Art with Pizzazz! (TAP)
Oct 6, six lessons, $65

*NEW! Refresher course for TAP-$25*
(See note below)
2-Think "outside" the Take out Box
Oct 7, four lessons, $45

These classes were available on Joggles in July and have now completed. They will not be offered again on that site until February. This is one extra opportunity to attend these classes.

Flora Rosa Created by Bente-Norway











Refresher course offered-
For those who have previously attended Textile Art with Pizzazz! (TAP) and for any reason were unable to complete the course OR would like to refresh your memory/review.

The TAP course provides quite a bit of good information and practice. The "meat and potatoes" are served following lesson 3. Many times people have written to me explaining how circumstances interfered with their best laid plans to complete the course; some only able to make it through lesson 3. If you would like to refresh your learning experience, regroup and start again; the refresher course is for you.

You may sign up here on this blog. Look for the pay pal button on the right column.

If you are interested in the refresher course, I am in the process of setting up a separate pay pal button this week. In the meantime, Contact me instead to express your interest.

TAP class is for people who are developing textile art and want to push the envelop and enrich the results. This course is not difficult, but to get the complete presentation you should plan to make a commitment to complete all of the lessons.

Think "outside" the Take out Box is a light hearted fun class that has a focus towards CRAFT but is definitely still about art.

A detailed description of both classes and supply lists are available here

I look forward to having the opportunity to share these classes with you.
Please tell your friends about the classes; word of mouth is the best form of advertisement.

Thank You,
Debbie Babin

Madeleine's' bedroom is complete!

This is a quilt I made for my granddaughter Madeleine last year for her fifth birthday.
Title: Zertz
Size: 80”x80”(original design)

I started this project with a “lap quilt” size in mind. Needless to say, the size evolved. This is the first time I have made a large square quilt. I enjoyed making it and am pleased with the results.

Madeleine LOVES to eat dessert. Her name for dessert is: Zert.

There are 5 hearts in each corner to represent her age. One big heart is in the very center. There are yo-yo’s in the center of each heart as well as the center of the four pinwheels. The yo-yo’s are hand button hole stitched. Yo-yo’s are also used as flowers in each basket.

Each outer corner has a sweet treat:
Ice cream cone, piece of chocolate cake, cup cake and lollipop.

The theme fabric is used for the border; it has all kinds of desserts on it.

Recently I visited her in Seattle. She now has a new bed which is a twin size day bed that has a trundle bed underneath. She needed a bed skirt to not only hide the extra bed but to also complete the look. I used left over fabric to make a multicolored the bed skirt. I barely had enough!

Madeleine loves the results and so do I!

September 3, 2008

Madeleine (AKA Goober)

You Are Worth the Time

A friend forwarded this link to me recently. It is titled: You Are Worth the Time
It is also, WORTH the time to go to this link to see the video. The message is pertinent to artists of all mediums and beautifully explains why artists DO make art.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3EaUb4zk0Ow

I would love to hear your comments about this video.
Debbie Babin

(Thank you to Linda from Sunny St PetersburgDomestic Goddess - Contessa of Da Messa)

It is a glorious day in Seattle!

I am visiting my daughter and her family this week. They live in Snoqualmie, a town just outside Seattle. It is about 65 degrees and sunny here today! It is the first day of school. I am fortunate to be able to visit them this week and witness Madeleine, 6, go off to her first day of first grade. Little Aaron, 3, also bounced out the door happily on his way to pre school announcing, "I will make a lot of new friends!". What exhiliration and confindence they have. It is so touching to observe them as they enthusiatically embrace their new home here in Washington state.

The progress of my workbook study will be halted while I travel to one more destination next week. My husband and I will travel to Mexico for my birthday. This is our favorite destination and I am looking forward to it. Summer is my favorite season and I agonize as it comes to an end. This trip will extend summer a bit longer.

Home For Sale: I posted a notice about my home being for sale a few months back. Well, we have a family that MAY be interested. We are holding our breath in hopes they will make us and offer. We will not be surprised if it is a rather low offer. This is the trend in the housing market today. However, we are optomistic!

Debbie Babin

Art Quilt Workbook Chapter 4

Chapter 4 was about collage. I was definitely challenged! Creating a composition using my theme of water did not "flow" easily! I struggled to think how I could render the effects of water. I am realizing the programming that is stored in my brain about water; these are interfering with my

creativity. I tend to think of water mostly as a seascape, sunny and pleasant. I am realizing I need to think broader about water. So, I plan to do some more sketching, thinking and journaling about this subject.
In the meantime, here is what I created.

I used 8mm habotai silk to print an image I took of a pier in the Caribbean. The rocks are man made and had sharp angles which I thought looked sculptural. The water was crystal clear. I like the image completely so I could not alter it! Instead I added strips from a second image to the edge and quilted it. The quilting followed the water patterns. The finished quilt has a beautiful quality. The sheen of the silk and the colors are very reminiscent of the actual turquoise water.

I was not completely pleased with my work because the work was so controlled so, I tried again. This time I tried to create the effect of the ocean at dawn.

I am pleased with this collage. I used hand painted kona cotton for the sky area and some of the pieces for highlights in the water. Hand painted silk and organza overlap to create the water and clouds.
I actually go into developing the clouds as much as the water; after all, clouds are water too. Finally, I decided to cut the outside to reflect the patterns of the water instead of a hard edge.

I was still not happy with my controlled thinking so I continued with a third quilt just to push myself in the opposite direction and created the ocean at night. This was also challenging. I am pleased with the results.

The concept is something I had never tried before. I used several shades of organza. I cut them into strips free hand and overlapped them crisscross. The colors: red, purple, white created the highlights over dark green and black. I also mixed in slivers of sparkly multicolored fabric.
I actually like this one turned sideways. This orientation looks MUCH more abstracted, but nothing resembling water!
This Chapter stretched my thinking which is always welcome!

Art Quilt Workbook Chapter 3

Chapter 3 through me off a bit because there ar 3 quilts assigned and none pertain to my chosen theme. I decided to follow the directions (specifically) for the pear design. I thought the technique was effective but interfered with my creativity. If I were to use it again I would cut the shapes free hand.

The same week I was studying Chapter three, I read about twin sisters that collaborate to create textile art they call "paintings". http://tinyurl.com/6pxafu

Co-incidentally, they utilize a similar method and guess what? They were using pears as the subject and were using a similar technique cutting out the fabric free hand.

Affirmation is wonderful!

I am looking forward to Chapter 4 as the topic is Abstract. Now I can get back to my theme of water.